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Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Where is your mentors farm? I'm also interested in keeping european bees. Hopefully, you could share your experiences and techniques.

By the way, my bees are just in my backyard currently and not in the farm. Soon, I will be relocating it so I could have many hives including honeybees.

Right now I'm trying to learn how to process propolis or where I could sell them in the future.

I have not yet heard about the bees having two queens. But now that you've shared it, I'll try to observed my hive.

do you have bees now?

its in lupon ,davao oriental...they are actually conducting trainings to those interested in keeping honeybees...i am really so interested in learning how to take care of KIyUt..maybe you can recommend some books specific to this specie?if u dont mind..

i Could ask my mentor if there is a market in propolis then il tell you if what is his answer..
i heard Kiyut propolis is much expensive than mellifera, twice the price they said..

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Originally Posted by paul24

its in lupon ,davao oriental...they are actually conducting trainings to those interested in keeping honeybees...i am really so interested in learning how to take care of KIyUt..maybe you can recommend some books specific to this specie?if u dont mind..

i Could ask my mentor if there is a market in propolis then il tell you if what is his answer..
i heard Kiyut propolis is much expensive than mellifera, twice the price they said..

You can try ordering a book from UPLB. I have tried asking them of the price, it's about 400 pesos plus shipping fee. I really didn't have any books in me, I just read about stingless bees in the internet. They are fairly easy to take care of, I now actually have 4 colonies. What you could learn from the book from UPLB is the processing of the propolis and honey. Right now, I'm still in the process of multiplying my hive so I'm in no hurry to buy the book just yet.

I'm tempted to raise Apis mellifera but I really want to go all natural. So, right now I'm now in the process of capturing my very first Apis cerana swarm.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

After talking to an expert in Philippine stingless bee (E.J. Robberts), I've found out that I have two different species of stingless bees. The one I bought from Luzon, Philippines was Trigona Biroi Friese while the local (Mindanao, Philippines) bee is said to be Tetragonula Laeviceps.

Here are the key differences I've observed so far:

1. Hive Entrance
Biroi - Guard bees are scattered on the entrance.

Laeviceps - guard bees guard the hole entrance and does not come out.
- propolis in the entrance are intentionally covered with moss for reasons I still don't know.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

woow..so nice im currently hunting my own bees right now hehehe
theres a slot in bee training in my mentors farm the trainees they accepting are just limited if you want i can hook you up with him...
thanks for all the knowledgeable info apo...

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Originally Posted by paul24

woow..so nice im currently hunting my own bees right now hehehe
theres a slot in bee training in my mentors farm the trainees they accepting are just limited if you want i can hook you up with him...
thanks for all the knowledgeable info apo...

It's easy to find stingless bees. They are almost everywhere, even in your backyard. The one you might probably find is the tetragonula laeviceps.

Is the training still in Davao Oriental? There is a free seminar in January sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and the speaker is the owner of Milea Bee farm in Davao City.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Hi marvin! Good to have a fellow kababayan here. That's a lot of colonies you captured in a day. Just be careful not to take all of them out in the wild. Where did you put all your 18 colonies? I haven't been to any seminars yet. I just study and research online.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

It's easy to find stingless bees. They are almost everywhere, even in your backyard. The one you might probably find is the tetragonula laeviceps.

Is the training still in Davao Oriental? There is a free seminar in January sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and the speaker is the owner of Milea Bee farm in Davao City.

Originally Posted by Apo Mariano

After talking to an expert in Philippine stingless bee (E.J. Robberts), I've found out that I have two different species of stingless bees. The one I bought from Luzon, Philippines was Trigona Biroi Friese while the local (Mindanao, Philippines) bee is said to be Tetragonula Laeviceps.

Here are the key differences I've observed so far:

1. Hive Entrance
Biroi - Guard bees are scattered on the entrance.

Laeviceps - guard bees guard the hole entrance and does not come out.
- propolis in the entrance are intentionally covered with moss for reasons I still don't know.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Originally Posted by paul24

its in lupon ,davao oriental...they are actually conducting trainings to those interested in keeping honeybees...i am really so interested in learning how to take care of KIyUt..maybe you can recommend some books specific to this specie?if u dont mind..

i Could ask my mentor if there is a market in propolis then il tell you if what is his answer..
i heard Kiyut propolis is much expensive than mellifera, twice the price they said..

apo how can u harvest the honey and pollen??
i found some teqs in the net on how to harvest the honey but none on the pollen
any ideas??
thank you apo

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

Originally Posted by paul24

apo how can u harvest the honey and pollen??
i found some teqs in the net on how to harvest the honey but none on the pollen
any ideas??
thank you apo

The pollen, you will have to take it out manually. Meaning, you have to scoop each pollen pots before pressing and straining the honeypots. That is just my idea paul, the best way to know is to attend the seminar. Techniques about stingless bee keeping will be taught there.

Re: Stingless bees from Philippines

We had a very hot day recently- the wind blew the hot air on to us from the desert. In my area it was 42C or 107F and hotter in some other parts of the state. There were a lot of losses recorded from our Stingless Bee Keepers. One guy lost 49 hives out of 70 and they were in the shade. I put wet towels over my hives with one end in the bucket so it had a wick effect and had no fatalities.

On another note, I am quite allergic to stingless bees despite the fact they do not sting. I have had about 10,000 honeybee stings with no ill effect but the stingless bees give a nip with their mandibles when you are pulling their nest apart. Don't know what they have on their mandibles but maybe it is a type of formic acid. These days I have to put protective clothing before going near them.